Alberta Advantage Immigration Program – Processing times and inventory
How to estimate processing times for applications and determine which streams are accepting applications.
Nomination certificate limits
The following numbers are accurate as of June 12, 2023.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) sets the limits for nomination certificates the AAIP can issue each year. AAIP will be able to issue 9,750 nomination certificates in 2023, split between Express Entry and non-Express Entry pathways (which is subject to change throughout the year). Notional increases to more than 10,000 nomination allocations per year are expected in 2024 and 2025.
These AAIP plans are subject to change without notice. They partially depend on fluctuating application volumes and on how nomination allocations in 2023 are anticipated to be used.
Summary of 2023 allocations by AAIP stream or pathway
| 2023 summary of allocations | Expected allocation |
|---|---|
| Non-Express Entry Streams – Allocations 4,875 | |
| Alberta Opportunity Stream | 4,240 |
| Rural Renewal Stream | 630 |
| All (4) Entrepreneur streams | 5 |
| Express Entry Stream and Pathways – Allocations 4,875 | |
| Family Connection and Occupation in Demand | 1,219 |
| Accelerated Tech Pathway | 1,219 |
| Dedicated Healthcare Pathway | 1,462 |
| Sector Priorities (that is, construction, agriculture, hospitality and tourism) | 975 |
| Total allocations: | 9,750 |
4,583 nomination certificates have been issued so far in 2023.
Application volumes and processing
Information on average processing times and dates and application volumes is available to help you determine how long its takes for AAIP to process a complete application for each AAIP stream or pathway.
Approximate volumes, processing times and assessment dates for each AAIP stream or pathway are provided below.
‘Assessing’ means an AAIP officer was assigned an application to assess and decide if an application is eligible.
The most common factors considered in AAIP application processing include:
- application quality (completeness, eligibility, outdated information or documents)
- volume of applications received
- the date the application was received
- strategic priorities, informed by labour market and economic development information
- the number of nomination certificates remaining for the year
To check the status of your application or business application, go to the ‘Check Existing Applications’ section of the AAIP portal.
To check the status of your Expression of Interest, go to the ‘Check Existing Expression of Interest’ section of the AAIP portal.
Streams for workers
| AAIP Stream | Number of applications in the queue (approximate) | Number of allocations remaining (approximate and subject to change) | Processing time (estimated average) – from when a complete application is submitted until a final decision is issued | The AAIP is assessing applications received before… (approximate) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alberta Opportunity Stream | Approximately 825 | Approximately 1,360 allocations | Approximately 4 months | May 1, 2023 |
| Alberta Express Entry Stream – Accelerated Tech Pathway | Approximately 180 | Approximately 250 allocations | Approximately 1 month | June 5, 2023 |
| Dedicated Healthcare Pathway | Less than 10 | Approximately 1,446 allocations | Approximately 1 month | Not currently available |
| Priority Sectors (construction, agriculture, hospitality and tourism) | Approximately 138 | Approximately 956 allocations | Not currently available | Not currently available |
| Alberta Express Entry Stream (family connection and occupation in demand) | Approximately 215 | Approximately 915 allocations | Approximately 3 months | May 6, 2023 |
| Rural Renewal Stream | Approximately 220 | Approximately 268 allocations | Approximately 1 month | May 15, 2023 |
Streams for entrepreneurs
| AAIP Stream | Expression of Interest (EOI) scoring (estimated) – from when EOI is submitted to scoring completed | Business Application decision (estimated) – from when a complete business application is received until a support letter is issued | Final report and nomination (estimated) – from when final report is submitted until a final nomination decision is issued |
|---|---|---|---|
| Graduate Entrepreneur Stream | 1 month | 5 months | 4 months |
| Foreign Graduate Entrepreneur Stream | 1 month | 5 months | 4 months |
| Rural Entrepreneur Stream | 1 month | 5 months | 4 months |
| AAIP Stream | Processing time (estimated average) – from when a complete application is submitted until a final decision is issued |
|---|---|
| Farm Stream | 4 months |
Applications by occupation
The AAIP has a high volume of applications in worker streams in the following occupations. When the volume of these applications exceeds the ability to issue nominations, these submissions may take longer to process or may be occupations excluded from Express Entry draws regardless of occupational demand.
- 62020 – Food service supervisors
- 62010 – Retail sales supervisors
- 63200 – Cooks
- 12200 – Accounting technicians and bookkeepers
- 13110 – Administrative assistants
- 73300 – Transport truck drivers
- 60020 – Retail and wholesale trade managers
- 21222 – Information systems specialists
- 65201 – Food counter attendants, kitchen helpers and related support occupations
- 21223 – Database analysts and data administrators
Express Entry draws
The AAIP regularly reviews available candidates in the federal Express Entry pool. Based on available profile information in the portal, the AAIP draws to select candidates from the pool, inviting them to submit a completed application to the AAIP. Information on Alberta Express Entry Stream Notification of Interest factors is included on the Eligibility page. Accelerated Tech Pathway candidates are invited to apply depending the outcome of the review of their Accelerated Tech Pathway form.
The following parameters will apply to Alberta Express Entry Stream selection for 2023:
- 25% of nominations will be allocated to candidates in in-demand occupations who have a close family connection (parent, child, brother or sister) in Alberta. In-demand occupations include occupations with significant cumulative imbalance on Alberta’s Occupational Outlook and occupations in ‘High’ or ‘Moderately High’ demand in the Short-Term Employment Forecast.
- 50% of nominations will be allocated to candidates with a primary occupation in the health care, construction, agriculture, hospitality and tourism sectors, with priority given to candidates with an Alberta job offer.
- 25% of nominations will be allocated to the Accelerated Tech Pathway.
Past draws
Draw information is updated within one week from a draw. Information on 2023 AAIP draws is provided below.
Read the 2022 AAIP Draw History Summary (PDF, 137 KB)
| Date of draw | Number of Notification of Interest letters sent | Draw parameters | Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of lowest ranked candidate who received a Notification of Interest letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 8, 2023 | 150 | Priority sector - Agriculture occupation and French as a first language, CRS score 300-500 | 382 |
| June 1, 2023 | 117 | Family connection and primary occupation in demand, CRS score 300-500 | 304 |
| May 30, 2023 | 20 | Priority sector - Agriculture occupation with Alberta job offer, CRS score 300-600 | 342 |
| May 23, 2023 | 5 | Designated Healthcare Pathway, Alberta job offer, CRS score 300-1200 | 401 |
| May 11, 2023 | 119 | Family connection and primary occupation in demand, CRS score 300-500 | 311 |
| May 9, 2023 | 175 | Priority sector - Tourism and hospitality occupation with Alberta job offer, CRS score 300-600 | 444 |
| May 9, 2023 | 8 | Designated Healthcare Pathway, Alberta job offer, CRS score 300 and above | 307 |
| April 25, 2023 | 8 | Designated Healthcare Pathway, Alberta job offer, CRS score 300 and above | 316 |
| April 24, 2023 | 124 | Priority sector - Construction occupation with Alberta job offer, CRS score 300-500 | 301 |
| April 20, 2023 | 152 | Family connection and primary occupation in demand, CRS score 300-500 | 302 |
| April 18, 2023 | 68 | Sector priority - Agriculture occupation with Alberta job offer, CRS score 300-700 | 307 |
| April 5, 2023 | 53 | Designated Healthcare Pathway, Alberta job offer, CRS score 300-600 | 351 |
| March 30, 2023 | 150 | Family connection and primary occupation in demand, CRS score 300-500 | 372 |
| March 9, 2023 | 134 | Family connection and primary occupation in demand, CRS score 300-500 | 301 |
| February 16, 2023 | 100 | Family connection and primary occupation in demand, CRS score 300-500 | 357 |
| January 23, 2023 | 154 | Family connection and primary occupation in demand, CRS score 300-500 | 385 |
| January 19, 2023 | 46 | Family connection and primary occupation in demand, CRS score 300-500 | 324 |